Life Before Her Eyes Soundtrack CD

Composer: James Horner.
Personnel: James Horner (piano); George Doering (guitar).
Audio Mixer: Simon Rhodes.
Recording information: Phantom Recording, Sherman Oaks, CA.
James Horner's score for director Vadim Perelman's film adaptation of Laura Kasischke's novel The Life Before Her Eyes, starring Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood, is low-key to the point of being minimalist much of the time. A keening voice, sustained strings, synthesizer washes, slow piano notes (played by the composer), and the occasional intrusion of a sort of musical buzz-saw sound (possibly the guitar of George Doering or created by synthesizer) characterize the long cues, which recall Brian Eno's ambient recordings and some especially quiet new age music. In addition to that buzz saw, the music gets loud momentarily during "Diana Gets Hit by a Car," presumably to accompany the moment of impact, and at the start of the final 12-minute track, "Young Diana's Future -- A Future That Could Have Been...." Musically, that future doesn't sound much different from the present, except for being played at a bit higher volume. This is a calm but intense score for a film drama with similar qualities. ~ William Ruhlmann